94 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GAPDEXING. 



length o£ the house, with a short lever and handle, 

 also keyed to the rod in the centre of the house. 

 The front sill is placed on piers 4 feet apart, and the 

 vines being planted inside, about 1 8 inches from the^ 

 front, have the run of external and internal borders, 

 as shown in the section. Many grape-growers 

 object to internal borders, because, they assert, the 

 roots of the vines are always found more plen- 

 tiful in the outside than they are in the inside 

 borders ; but this is a delusion, or a condition 

 brought about by mismanagement, as vines in all 

 stages of growth require copious supplies of water, 

 and when this important element is withheld from 

 internal borders, they very naturally struggle to get 

 a share of the refreshing moisture that is so plenti- 

 fully poured upon the external roots by the hand 

 of nature. 



Fig. 3 is an illustration of a house also built upon 

 the same principle for the growth of Muscats on the 

 south, and that fine, but rarely well-managed grape, 

 Black Morocco, on the north. The glazing and 

 ventilating are in every respect similar to that in 

 the preceding house ; but the pipes, as will be seen 

 on reference to the section, are differently arranged, 

 and the border on the north side is cut off from the 

 Muscat border by means of an area (marked a), 

 which can be filled with fermenting material, run- 

 ning under an iron grating, which forms the path or 

 gangway through the centre of the house. Although 

 mid-season or late grapes can be grown in this house, 

 it is not so well adapted to early forcing as the 

 lean-to, owing to the large area of glass being 

 exposed to the sudden changes of temperature we 

 experience from the time early houses are started in 

 December until the fruit has passed all the most 

 critical stages in April. But for Muscats, which 

 revel in an abundance of sun, heat, and light, and 

 which usually have the best part of the summer for 

 making their growth, the hip-roofed house, facing 

 the south, has more advantages than the lean-to, 

 while its appearance is certainly more graceful and 

 pleasing to the eye. 



Fig. 4 represents a true span-roofed vinerj% which 

 may be erected in any part of the garden, as the en- 

 tire structure can be supported on either brick piers 

 or cast-iron columns, rising to the surface of the 

 borders. It is usual to set these houses to face east 

 and west, that is to say, one end to stand north and 

 the other due south, an arrangement which exposes 

 the vines on each side to an equal share of sunlight, 

 while the whole being glass, an abundance of air and 

 light, so essential to the perfect growth and matura- 

 tion of the wood and fruit, can at all times be ob- 

 tained. This style of house is by no means new, as 

 some of the finest and oldest vines in Gi-reat Britain 

 are now growing under a span-roof. Neither is it 



expensive, unless the o^wner feels inclined to increase 

 the cost by ornamentation to meet and blend with 

 the surrounding buildings. One thing, however, be 

 the house plain or ornamental, is very important — 

 the quality of the materials of which it is composed. 

 None but the best seasoned red deal should be used ; 

 all ornamentation should be secured by means of 

 moulding or chamfering the solid wood in pre- 

 ference to putting on mouldings ; all flat surfaces 

 calculated to hold water or condensed moisture 

 should be avoided, and none but the best Biitish 

 sheet-glass, white lead, and oil should be used for 

 resisting the elements. If proof of these remarks 

 should be wanted, the reader has only to go into the 

 market-growlers' establishments, where a shilling is 

 never spent if a smaller sum will suffice, and where 

 hundi'eds of houses of this kind are now producing 

 tons of the best grapes in the world, to satisfy 

 himself that the man who lives by his intelligence 

 and industry, while building upon the plainest lines 

 imaginable, uses the very best materials that money 

 can buy. 



From the foregoing pages it will be seen that 

 direct sun-heat and light are of the greatest import- 

 ance ; but there is no rule without an exception, as 

 good Hambro' grajoes can and have been grown 

 under glass where the aspect has been due north. 

 Of course, the heating and ventilating must be 

 in every way jperfect, and the borders should be 

 internal, not over- wide, well raised, and thoroughly 

 drained. 



Trellis for the Vines. — The trellis on which 

 the vines are to be trained forms an important part 

 of the structure. In old, heavily-timbered houses, it 

 was usual to place three wires 9 inches ajoart and 

 about 12 inches below the glass under each rafter ; a 

 system which answered fairly well when the squares 

 were small, and every lap admitted a current of air : 

 but under the modern mode of close glazing with, 

 lairge squares, a greater distance is now allowed, for 

 the tw^ofold purpose of admitting a free circulation 

 of air above the fully-developed foliage, as well as to 

 prevent scorching when the moisture is obliged to find 

 its way to the apex ventilators before it can escape 

 from the house. Many give preference to galvanised 

 wires, running longitudinally the w^hole length of the 

 house, 10 inches apart, and 18 to 24 inches from the 

 glass. The mode of supporting the wii-es is entirely 

 a matter of taste. Some use long iron pins, with a 

 mesh at one end for screwing on to the rafters, and 

 an eye at the other for carrying the wires, and when 

 neatly fixed they look light and pleasing. But a 

 plain substantial trellis can be secured by running 

 flat iron bars, 1^ inch by ^ inch, from the fi'ont 

 mullions to the back wall, 18 to 24 inches below^ the 



